C H A 





Olimrcoal, 

 rhartntc. 



be taken down. The particular stage at which it is 

 proper to do so, is determined by making a small 

 opening into tin- pile : if no flame appears, it m fii to 

 he taken clown ; if it bursts forth, the aperture must 

 be again closed, and allowed to remain so for another 

 day. 



Great nicety is requisite in the preparation of char- 

 coal for the manufacture of gunpowder and other de- 

 licate chemical processes. And the manufacturers 

 select the stems of the willow, alder, dogwood, and 

 some others, which they prepare with peculiar care. 

 In most of the large manufactories, the charcoal is 

 distilled from iron vessels ; by which means it is ob- 

 tained in a state of considerable purity, and the 

 other products are saved. As all charcoal contains 

 minute portions of earthy and metallic substances, 

 lamp black is commonly used in nice chemical expe- 

 riments. Lamp black is obtained by the turpentine 

 manufacturers, from the combustion of the refuse of 

 their operations in furnaces appropriated to that pur- 

 pose. The smoke deposits itself on the sacking 

 which is hung up ; it is swept off, and sold for com- 

 mon use, without further preparation. The lamp 

 black in this state contains some oil, which is separa- 

 ted by being heated to redness in a close vessel. 



The chief consumption of charcoal is as fuel. It 

 is also employed as a tooth powder, and to purify 

 tainted meat. No mode of preparation for the first 

 of these objects is at all necessary, and for the two 

 last, it must merely be reduced to a fine powder. 



It forms a part of all reducing fluxes. It is an 

 indispensible constituent of gunpowder. (See GUN- 

 POWDER.) It is the basis of most black paints and 

 varnishes. It is used to polish brass and copper, and 

 is an excellent clarifier. 



Powdered charcoal must be heated to redness in a 

 covered crucible, with an opening in the middle of 

 the cover, and kept in that state till no flame issues 

 out ; it must be then withdrawn, allowed to cool, 

 and then put into close vessels and kept for use. 

 Whenever either wine, vinegar, or any other fluid is 

 to be clarified, it is simply to be mixed with the li- 

 quor ; a froth appears at the surface, and after infil- 

 tration, it is pure and colourless. See Philosophical 

 Magazine, vol. iii. p. 1. No. 17. &c. ; Annalcs de 

 Chiinie, vols. xxxi. xxxii. xxxvi. xlii. ; Nicholson's 

 Journal, 4to. vol. iv. (c. M.) 



CH A RENTE, the name of one of the depart- 

 ments of France, which was formed out of Angou- 

 mois, and takes its name from the river Charente 

 which passes through it. It is bounded on the north 

 by the departments of the two Sevres and Vienne, 

 on the west by Lower Charente, on the south by 

 Lower Charente and Dordogne, and on the east by 

 Dordogne and Upper Vienne. It extends about 56 

 miles from south-west to north-east, and its mean 

 breadth is about 30 miles. It contains 6310 square 

 kilometers, or about 1,153,684 square acres. The 

 principal rivers are the Charente, the Vienne, and the 

 Touvre. The Charente is navigable from Angou- 

 leme to the sea, and is of great service in transport- 

 ing from Limousin to the port of Rochfort the wood 

 which is required for ship-building. The source of 

 the Touvre is a noble spring, nearly equal to that of 

 Vaucluse, and having its water cold in summer and 

 warm in winter. The forests of this department oc- 

 cupy about 24 thousand hectares, the half of which 



VOL. v. PAUT ii. 



belong to individuals, and tlir oilier half to the nauuo. 

 The contributions in ISO:* auv.Mi.ti 1 

 francs. Population :<"._', (XX>. The principal towns 

 arc Angouleme, Cognac, KufK-c, Confolrns, and 

 Burbr/ieux. t Moib for an account of the 



productions of this department. (J) 



CHARENTE, LOWER, a maritime department 

 of France, formed out of Aunis and part of Saintonge. 

 It is situated on the north of the river Gironde, and u 

 bounded on the north by the department! of the two 

 Sevres and La Vendee, on the wet by the tea, on 

 the south by the departments of the Gironde and th~ 

 Dorgogne, and on the east by the department of 

 Charente. It is about 80 miles long, and it 10, 20, 

 and in some places 40 miles broad. It contains 7200 

 square kilometers, or 475 square leagues of 2000 

 toises. The principal productions of the department 

 are corn of all kinds, wines, hemp, flax, brandy, salt, 

 fish, and iron. The isle of Oleron ia very fertile; 

 and the isle of .\(- t which also abounds in wines, is 

 famous for the liqueur called anisette. The naviga- 

 ble rivers are the Gironde, the Charente, the Bou- 

 tonne, which is navigable from St Jean D'Angeli to 

 Charente, the Sevre Niortaise, and the Seudre, which 

 is navigable from Mornac to the sea. The forests 

 occupy 38,000 hectares, belonging almost wholly to 

 individuals, about one fifteenth only being the pro- 

 perty of the communes and the nation. The contri- 

 butions in 1803 were 4, 105,9 14. Population 402,000, 

 The principal towns are Saintes, Rochefort, Rochelle, 

 St Jean D'Angeli, Marennes,and Jonsac. See ROCHE- 

 FORT and ROCHELLE. (7) 



CHARIOT. SeeCARRiAGE.CiucExsiAN GAMES, 

 COACH, OLYMPIC G\Mt>, ai,d WAR-CHARIOT. 

 CHARLEMAGNE. See FHA- 

 CHARLES I. and II. See BRITAIN. 

 CHARLES V. See GERMANY and SPAIN-. 

 CHARLES XII. See SWEDEN. 

 CHARLESTOWN, the capital city of South 

 Carolina, one of the United States of America, is si- 

 tuated on a tongue of land, formed by the confluence 

 of the rivers Ashley and Cooper. These two streams, 

 short in their course, but wide and navigable, unite im- 

 mediately below the city, and form a spacious and con- 

 venient harbour, communicating with the ocean below 

 Sullivan's island, which it leaves on the north, seven 

 mill-; southward of Charlestown. A sand-bank at 

 the mouth of this harbour, extending from shore to 

 shore, is very dangerous to vessels, particularly when 

 the wind blows strong into the harbour. It is com- 

 posed of hard sand ; but has four openings, by which 

 vessels are navigated across it. The deepest of those 

 openings has fourteen feet of water when the tide 

 flows, and twelve feet when it has ebbed ; in spring 

 tides it is covered to the depth of twenty feet. Im- 

 mediately before this bank there is excellent anchor- 

 age ground, of which, however, ships seldom ven- 

 ture to avail themselves, unless the wind be faint, and 

 the billows moderate. From the sand-bank up to 

 Charlestown, the anchorage is good, and is best in 

 the immediate vicinity of the town. 



Charlestown was founded in the year 1680, by the 

 first groupe of colonists who emigrated from Eng- 

 land to South Carolina. They had landed about the 

 year 16'"0 near Port- Royal, from which they remo. 

 ved in the following year to the western banks of 

 Ashley river. There they laid the foundation of a 

 5c 



